services

Public speaking

Management training

Customer service workshops

Customer experience critiques and evaluations

Almost every great brand, and almost every enduring successful company, makes its customers believe that shares their best interests. Our Revolutionary Old Idea is actually quite simple: We make your customers believe you really care about them. How do we do that? We make you really care.

You've heard of us.

Revolutionary Old Idea has presented at meetings of major companies like Carrefour and Unilever, and at industry gatherings like the 3% Conference. Build a Brand Like Trader Joe's was written up in the New York Times, and featured on Chicago's WBEZ.

Zendesk Podcast: Beyond Cookie Butter

Your brand may have fans, but do they compose songs about your company?

Host Mio Adelman interviews Mark as they take a deep dive into Trader Joe's extraordinary culture of customer service in this terrific podcast. The first episode in a series called 'Repeat Customer' from the CX pros at Zendesk.

After 20 years earning six figures in advertising and marketing, I took a $12 per hour job at Trader Joe's to learn how one of America's most secretive companies built one of America's strongest brands, virtually without advertising.

It turns out that Trader Joe’s did it by using the oldest trick in the marketing book – by recruiting front-line customer service staff who are naturally inclined to deliver excellent customer service, and then empowering those people to deliver exceptional CX. It's a Revolutionary Old Idea, and it will work for you. This company’s dedicated to helping other companies – yours, for example – how to do it. We’d love to talk to you about it, but honestly the best place to start is by reading this book.

Yes, there’s a manual.

“As a Trader Joe's devotee and former national brand director for a major nonprofit, I thought Gardiner nailed it…TJ may not be doing everything just right, but the branding works and Gardiner explains why. This is a must-read for anyone mildly fascinated with Trader Joe's or searching for a once-and-for-all book on real-world branding.” – Tara M, Amazon

“A guy whose background is advertising examines how an 8 billion dollar company succeeds without an ad agency. In typical Gardiner style he explains the things they do wrong as a business and how it works for them.I would really recommend it to people with sales/marketing backgrounds or interest.To me it says that instead of being "corporate" TJ understands the old sales adage that "people buy from people." Don, Amazon